The present invention relates to ultrasound transducers. In particular, three dimensional structures are formed for components in an ultrasound transducer.
Medical diagnostic ultrasound transducers include a stack of layers. For example, a transducer layer is sandwiched between one or more matching layers and a backing layer. The transducer stack is relatively small, such as supporting an array of elements with a sub-millimeter pitch and thickness. Due to the small size of the transducer, the complexity of structures useable within a transducer stack is limited. For example, various matching layer structures for graduated or desired acoustical impedance have been proposed but are costly or difficult to manufacture.